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May 6, 2011

Fun Fact of the Week: You just may have gotten yourself a ceremonial resolution without even knowing it!

D.C. Acts

>> Act 19-53, “District of Columbia Board of Elections and Ethics Primary Date Alteration Amendment Act of 2011”: It’s a done deal — the District’s primaries are moving from the first Tuesday in September to the first Tuesday in April, effectively doubling the amount of time that losing incumbents will spend as lame ducks. The first April primary will be next year, and will coincide with the presidential primary.

Adopted Ceremonial Resolutions

>> Holy ceremonial resolutions, D.C. Council! This week’s issue of the register has 48 ceremonial resolutions in it, including the “Super Bowl Recognition Resolution of 2011,” the “Earth, Wind, and Fire – 40th Anniversary Recognition Resolution of 2011” and the “Soul Searchers Band and Chuck Brown as the True Originators of Go-Go Recognition Resolution of 2011.” There are also a number of ceremonial resolutions recognizing good causes and important individuals, though the resolution celebrating my weekly rundown of the D.C. Register seems to have been left for the next resolution dump.

Council Hearings

>> Public Oversight Roundtable Notice on “Executive’s Personnel Practices”: Yet another in the long-running series of hearings on the hiring practices of Mayor Vince Gray. This May 13 hearing may be the most closely watched, if only because Sulaimon Brown has been served a subpoena to appear. Well, so says Councilmembert Mary Cheh (D-Ward 3) — Brown has already questioned the legality of receiving a subpoena by mail, has said he hasn’t actually gotten it and claims the whole thing is a “witch hunt.” Honestly, if you want Brown to appear, just call the thing a “press conference” and he’ll come running.

Proposed Rulemaking

>> For those of us concerned about how the University of the District of Columbia spends its money, this is good news — the Board of Trustees has a set of proposed rules that would bring the university in compliance with a 2010 law that opens the D.C. government to public scrutiny.